1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to the field of animal safety. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus for reducing or eliminating the possibility of an animal drowning, particularly domestic animals.
2. Related Art
Pets and other domestic animals have attained special place in many human lives as friends, a source of protection and guidance, a means of relieving stress through play or journeys to the park, and in some cases a means of making a living. When near water bodies, especially those having steep walls or cliffs, such as oceans, lakes, ponds, swimming pools meant for human use, spas, and even bath tubs, animals are in a predicament in that they have the possibility of drowning. This is a severe problem for domestic pets, such as small dogs and cats. In today's world, where space comes at a premium, and costs for caring for large pets can be onerous, humans desiring canine and feline companions, or other animals are finding justification for smaller animals. While this gravitation toward smaller animals alleviates somewhat the space and expense issues, smaller animals have a disadvantage in that they frequently have difficulty extricating themselves from situations, such as bodies of water. Unless the pool or other water body has readily available means for egress, such as steps or a gradual slope, such as found at a beach, the animal may drown since it cannot continue swimming indefinitely. Even in situations where a means for egress is present there have been incidents where the animal simply is not able to find the steps, or has not been trained to do so.
There are of course many known devices in the patent literature for domestic animals, however, these typically fall in categories such as pest killing and drug delivery; protective apparel such as udder protectors for cows, clothing and bandages; training devices, such as imitation cattle horns; and animal control devices, such as tag and release devices, pet cages, and pet restraint harnesses.
In the area of collars and bands there may be found, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,803, which discloses a padded sleeve for a pet collar. U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,177 discloses a decorative pet flea collar and method for changing the appearance of the flea collar. U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,511 discloses an ornamental and protective collar. U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,991 discloses a pet collar with a retainer thereon for reception of a removable, flexible strip. U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,016 discloses a safety pet collar that frictionally releases, so that the pet does not choke when the collar becomes entangled on a foreign object. This device would apparently not be useful for ensuring the animal does not drown. Some patents describe collars that include absorbent materials for delivery of medicaments, such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,791,202. A recently published patent application, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 20030037735A1, describes an animal collar system for safely and conveniently limiting physical movement of an animal's head, for example after the animal has had surgery. The animal collar system includes an elongate protective member having a generally broad cylindrical structure and is preferably comprised of a resilient material such as foam material, which may be buoyant.
As may be seen, the need remains for apparatus to efficiently and safely prevent accidental drowning of domestic animals, particularly near bodies of water that have steep and/or slippery side surfaces.